Closure operator



July 29, 1930.

ANDERSON 1,771,601

CLOSURE OPERATOR Filed July 21, 1927 INVENTOR EuLfrl'Ed flndar'smi ATTORNEYS Patented July 29, 1930 UNITEfTA'rES rarer FFICE" oo'rrnIEn nnnnnsoiv, ornoo'xronn, ILLINOIS, nssreivon To HOWARD n. ooLMAN, or I nooxronn, ILLINOIS V CLOSURE OPERATOR Application filed July 21,

The invention relates to closure operators and ismore especially directed to a power driven operator for hinged doors of the type mounted toswing in their opening movement in the direction of the operator.

. The primary object of my invention is to provide, in combination with a hinged door and a power driven actuator reciprocable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the door opening, an operative connection between the actuator and the door which is operable to transmit the reciprocatory movements of the actuator to the door with a minimum-ofstress or strain on the parts.

A special object is to provide a novel and effectual operator fora pair of garage doors of the inwardly swinging type, wherein the operator and its actuating means are located 0 within the .garage, the actuator being reciprocable in a direction perpendicular to the door opening and substantially centrally thereof. i

A general object of the invention is to 25 provide a power driven operator for hinged doors which is simple in construction and capable of effecting a rapid movement ofthe door from closed to open position and vice versa.

30 In the attainment of the foregoing objects I. employ an operating member pivoted at one end to the hinged door to be operated,

and guided for movement in a fixed path at or near its opposite end and'means operable in each stroke of a reciprocable actuator to apply both a longitudinal and a lateral force to said member, the longitudinal force being applied when the door is at or near one end of its swinging movement, the lateral force appliedwhen the door is at or near the other end of its swinging movement, and both forces applied in the movement of the door through the intermediate arc of its travel.

In other words, I employ an operating n1emher which functions both as a link and a lever in the opening and closing movements of the door; The chief advantage in this construction is that it renders possible the use of an actuator reciprocable in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the door opening they swing into open position in the direction of the operator.

1927. Serial No; 207,365.

and substantially centrally thereof, to effect the movement of a pair of hinged doors through an arc of nlnety degrees or more as In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated the preferred embodiment only of the invention, it being understood that various changes in the construction and arrangement set forth are within the contemplation of the appended claims. 7

Figure 1 of the drawings is a plan view of my improved door operator showing a power driven actuator in driving relation thereto.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sideelevational viewof the operator as shown in Fig. l.

In the present embodiment ofthe invention I have shown my improved operator as applied to a pair of hinged garage doors of the single leaf inwardlyswinging type, al-

though I desire expressly to point out that the invention is equally applicable to doors of the'multiple leaf type. The power driven actuator which is of the reciprocatory type, forms per so no part of the present invention, that herein shown being of the type illus: trated, described and claimed in thecopending application of Howard D. Colman, Serial N0. 166 086, filed February 2, 1927.

In the preferred form of the invention, the operator is disposed adjacent the ceiling 7 of the garage or other building to which it is applied, as is also the power driven actuator which is in the form of a car 8 reciprocable upon a track 9 extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the door opening and centrally thereof. The track 9 as shown is suspended from the ceiling 7 of the garage, a bracket 10 being employed for this purpose at the forward end of the track and a bracket 11 at the rear end of the track, the latter bracket being secured to the frame of the driving unit which is also suitably secured to the ceiling 7.

The car 8 is operatively connected by means of a pair of links 12 with a pair of elongated members or bars 13, the links 12 being pivotally secured to the members ldintermediate the ends of the members, as by means of fastening members 14:. At their forward ends the members. 13 are respectively pivoted by means of brackets 15 to doors 16 hinged at 17 to the vertical side edges of the door opening. The rear ends of the members 13 are supported and guided in the present instance by a pair of arms 18 to which the members 13 are pivoted, each arm being pivotally mounted in turn upon a plate 19 secured to the ceiling 7 of the garage. I

The brackets 15 are, it will be noted, secured to their respective doors so asto proiect above the upper edge of the doors (Fig.

2), thus positioning the forward ends of the members 13 above the doors. This enables the free edge portionsof the doors to swing beneath the members 13 as the doors swing into their wide open positions as shown in broken lines in 1.

In the closed positions of the doors the members 13 are, it will beobserved from Fig. 1, substantially in parallelrelation on opposite sides of the track 9; the. links 12 are disposed at relatively sharp or acute angles with respect to the forward end portions of the members 13 and thus extend in the general direction of or toward the free edges of the doors; and the arms 18 disposed at relatively large or obtuse angles relative to the rear end portions of the members 13. It will thus be apparent that in the initial portion of the rearward movement of the car '8 from its foremost position (Fig. 1) a force is applied substantially longitudinally-of the members 13 by the links 12; and as the members thus move rearwardly the arms 18 swing rear wardly. As such rearward movement of the car continues the direction of application of, the operating force byjthe links 12 to the members 13, approaches and passes beyond a perpendicular to the members 13 at their point of attachment with the links 12. Thus the links 12 operate with a toggle-like action so that the effective leverage applied laterally to the members 13, is materially increased. In such movement of the members 13. their rear ends turn on the fulcrums provided by the free ends of the arms 18, which fulcrums shift along an arcuate path as determined by the position of the doors. It will be seen that each door travels through an arc of more than ninety degrees as the actuator 8 moves in one direction.

In the'closing cycle the sequence of operations is reversed, the links initially acting to swing the members 13 on their shifting fulcrums provided by the arms 18, and the force being applied longitudinally to the latter members as the arms swing toward a position of alinement with the members 13.

It will be observed that with a given rate of travel of the car 8, the rate of movement imparted to the door is relatively slow at both ends of the cycle as compared to the rate of movement during the intermediate portion of the cycle in which the members 13 function both as a link and alever. Thus the opening and closing movements are effected rapidly but with a retarded movement near opposite ends of the opening or closing cycle.

The driving unit for the actuator 8 may be of any suitable character, that herein shown being more fully described in the before mentioned copending application. Briefly, it comprises an electric motor 20 arranged to drive a pinion 21 meshing with a rack bar 22 extending forwardly above the track 9 for connection with the car 8. 23 is an elongated tubularmember into which the rack bar extends so as to be supported thereby in the rearward position of the bar. 7

I claim as my invention: V

1. The combination with a door. of a rigid elongated member extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the door when closed and pivoted at one end directly to the door and having a shifting fulcrum at its opposite end, an actuator reciprocable in a direction toward and from the plane of the door opening in opening and closing the door respectively,and means operated by said actuator to apply to said member an operating force acting when the door is in or near its closed position to move the member longitudinally and then while continuing the longitudinal movement to apply a lateral force to swing the member on its fulcrum.

' 2. The combination with a pair of hinged doors, a pair of operating members each pivotally connected to one of said doors, means for supporting and guiding the opposite ends of said members, a toggle linkage between said members having parts respectively forming acute angles with the forward portions of the members in the closed positions of the doors, and an actuator reciprocable in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the door opening and adapted to straighten said toggle linkage so as to bring the links substantially into longitudinal alinement in opening said doors and flexing the links of said toggle toward each other in closing said doors.

3. The combination with a hinged door.

a rigid member of a length substantially greater than the width of the door and pivoted at one end directly to the door and extending in a direction substantially perpendicular thereto in the closed position of. the'door, a pivotally supported arm to which the other end of said member is pivoted and operating to guide the last mentioned end of the member in a fixed path toward and from the plane of the door opening in the closing and opening of the door respectively, and means operable to impart both longitudinal and swinging movements to said member whereby to impart a swinging movement to the door.

4. An operator for swinging doors comthe other link member being'pivotally con- 1 second link member extending from the first nected at one end, to the first member at a point remote from the end connected to the door and mounted at its other end for movement in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the door opening, said link member toward the free edge of the door when closed and forming with said first member a relatively sharp angle gradually increasing in degree as the door is moved from closed to open position.

5. The combination with a hinged door, of an operator therefor comprising a rigid elongated member pivotally connected at one end to the door and extending therefrom in a direction substantially perpendicular to the door when in closed position, means providing a fulcrum for said member adapted to permit movement of the member in a direction toward and from the door opening", and means acting upon said member to impart longitudinal movements to said member as well as to swing the same on said fulcrum whereby to impart opening and closing movements to the door.

6. The combination with a pair of doors, of an actuator reciprocable in a path substantially perpendicular to the doorway and positioned centrally thereof, a pair of rigid elongated members arranged on opposite sides of the path of said actuator and extending substantially parallel thereto in the closedposition of the doors, said members being pivoted respectively at one end to the two doors, means providing a pivotal support for the other end of each of the two members permitting them to move with the doors in the opening and closing movements of the latter, and links interposed between said actuator on the one hand and'the respective members on the other and operable in the movements of the actuator to impart longitudinal and swinging movements to the respective members, said links converging toward the doors whenclosed.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto afl'ixed my signature. 7

GOTFRIED ANDERSON. 

